


Arise

by TVBS



Category: X-Ray & Vav (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, M/M, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 22:00:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5557088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVBS/pseuds/TVBS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Mad King has been dethroned the second time, X-Ray and Vav are getting back to their usual routine. Things are going great.</p>
<p>Except the Mad King's experiment with the milk didn't exactly end properly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arise

If anyone were to ask X-Ray, he was very glad that the Mad King was finally taken care of. The last few months had been a trip that he didn't want to repeat. Mogar, his mom, that fight… it was all over, and that was what mattered. So now all X-Ray and Vav had to do was patrol the city for the occasional crime and then go back to their rebuilt secret lair (thank you very much, Hilda) to play video games until they passed out. And then start the next day anew. Everything was perfect again.

Just absolutely perfect, X-Ray thought as he pounded another Red Bull, his mind wandering to the video game he had been playing. He had been doing pretty well, all told. But he hadn't unlocked everything yet. Maybe if he shuffled a few things around, put a few functions in passive and supportive slots… that would work out pretty well. Yeah. His fingers twitched a bit as he sat back down, picking up the controller and getting to it. It wasn't a particularly hard game to be sure, but he really wanted to see this one to its end. Something about it… there was a lot of heart and soul here.

Vav would probably be over soon. Hero of Justice, go out to save the town, all that. He didn't need to get too much into the game. In fact, a few more fights, then find the nearest access point and saving. Those fights would be enough to unlock those functions anyway. And then he could go protect the town! Yeah, he had a good night ahead of him.

A scrape against his window made him look up, frowning. What the hell? Someone was leaning there, slowly making their way across. "Mom!" he called up the stairs. "There's a drunk outside my window again."

"Okay, son!"

The drunk stumbled away from his window, making him respond to her with "Nevermind! He went away."

"Okay. Are you and your friends going to get together tonight?"

"Yeah, Vav should be over soon."

"Will he be staying for dinner?" And like that, X-Ray could smell the carne guisada.

"We'll be out late, Mom."

"It's okay, son. I'll just heat it up for you later."

Mouth watering, X-Ray affected an annoyed tone of voice. "Okay, Mom."

Carne guisada. With rice and beans and probably homemade tortillas. Yeah, he was going to have to speed up today's patrol. That sounded really good. Saving and turning off his game, X-Ray wished that Vav would show up soon so they could get it out of the way and eat some delicious beef in tomato gravy.

His wish was answered soon as he heard Vav's accented voice greeting his mother before descending down to his secret lair. "X-Ray!" he cheered as he threw the door open. "Did you know your mum is making carne guisada?"

"Yeah, I guessed." And it smelled so good. "Are we going out now?"

"X-Ray!" Vav turned to him with wide eyes. "Your mum is making _carne guisada._ Let's stick around and have some before we go out. We shouldn't go out on empty stomachs, after all."

Or that could happen. X-Ray's stomach happily perked up as he shrugged. "I guess. Hey, mom! Put out an extra plate for Vav. We're staying a little longer for dinner."

"Okay, son!"

Vav smiled at that, pulling one from X-Ray as he flopped down in front of the TV. "So, what have you been playing? Anything good?"

"Hey! Everything I play is of the highest caliber."

"You literally have played a game called Barbie and her Sisters: Puppy Rescue."

"Highest caliber," X-Ray insisted.

That made Vav laugh as he scrolled through X-Ray's games, picking one to play as they waited for his mom to finish cooking.

* * *

"Your mum is a really good cook," Vav informed X-Ray as they started to leave.

"Yeah, she knows a few things." X-Ray smiled at that, though. It was really nice to have Vav stick around longer. Got him some hot food, fresh off the stove. And it was always nice to eat with Vav. "So, you ready to go have a justice filled night?"

"Of course, X-Ray!" Vav gave him a returning smile, making X-Ray's chest warm as they walked through the streets. Not that he needed it to be warm. It was a nice night. Not too cold, not too humid, and the sky was clear, leaving a gorgeous full moon hanging overhead. X-Ray looked up at the sky and smiled, seeing a few stars twinkling up in that black expanse.

A groan caught his attention. A pained groan, coming just a little way down the street. X-Ray and Vav instantly broke into a run towards the sound, skidding to a stop as they came to the source. "Don't worry, citizen," Vav started, hands on his hips. "X-Ray and Vav are here now."

"Nngh." Oh, ew. X-Ray put a hand to his mouth as he saw who it was that made the noise. It was an injured man, and his ear and shoulder were an absolute _wreck._ Oh gross, he did not need to know what human muscle looked like. "Some jerk came up to me and bit me! Chewed all on my neck."

"Sir, don't move," X-Ray told him, looking over at Vav. "Call an ambulance. And don't worry, citizen X-Ray and Vav will find whoever bit you and bring him to justice."

"Yeah, yeah. He seemed like some drunk guy to me, to me honest," the man mumbled. "Or on drugs. We have a drug problem in this city?"

X-Ray looked over at Vav, who shrugged as he called the ambulance. "I don't think so," he told him. "But we'll take care of it. It'll be okay."

"Mogar would have gotten me to the hospital already," came the answering grumble.

He knew they had already made their peace with Mogar, and that in some way they were all friends, but that still stung. Mogar had decided to stay away from the city as much as possible, instead electing to live in the woods with his mother again. And that worked out for all of them, but the citizens of the city still remembered Mogar, and still sometimes said stuff like that. It sucked. They were trying to remind everyone that Mogar wasn't going to be there for them, that he had gone home, that it was X-Ray and Vav again, but it was hard going. "Well, he's not here, and the ambulance should be here any minute. Hey, do you remember what this guy looked like?"

"Eh." The man shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "Short. Black hair. Pudgy. He looked pretty pale and out of it. Stumbling a lot. You could probably find him pretty quickly just by looking around."

"Alright then." X-Ray stood up, making a decision. "Vav, you stay here until the ambulance arrives. I'm going to go find this jerk and bring him to justice."

"X-Ray!"

Vav's cry went ignored as X-Ray dashed off. He needed to find this guy before he hurt anyone else. So, where would he go if he was a possibly drunk jerk that had just chewed someone up? Hm. X-Ray looked around, thinking. Probably off the streets. So… down that alley? Probably. He darted in, following it down. That guy had to be around here. Somewhere. Just… where? When he reached the end of the alley, X-Ray let out a long breath, looking around again. He hadn't seen anything. Where, then? Just as he was about to turn back, he caught glimpse of someone staggering around a corner. "Hey!" he shouted as he ran. "Come back here!"

It didn't occur to him that it could be someone else as he rounded the corner. This had to be the right person. But when he came around the corner, there was no one. Slowly, X-Ray made his way down the street, one hand on his glasses. He didn't seen anything that was threatening, but that didn't mean anything. Someone still could come out of the shadows and get him! X-Ray glanced around, not seeing anything. Then, his foot hit something.

And when he looked down, he recoiled in horror.

Well, he found the guy. And he wasn't going to be biting anyone else since he had tripped and fallen onto some steps, somehow literally bashing his brains out. And that really was literal, as strewn across the pavement were chunks of skull and brain. X-Ray pressed a hand to his mouth as he backed up, bile rising up.

This wasn't what he became a superhero for. Not to see drugged up jerks somehow literally bash their brains all over the pavement. It was utterly disgusting, to see all of that, and the smell, oh the _smell_ …

X-Ray managed to get away from the body before he vomited. Ew. Well, now he knew how he'd react around dead bodies. Good thing that seemed to be a really rare occurrence. X-Ray wiped his mouth as he turned back to the body, taking a deep breath by mouth to try to steel himself. He could do this. He had to go back, get Vav, call an ambulance to clean this up, and they would be back in business. And it didn't even require any police work because this guy was drunk or drugged up and he probably just tripped and fell. Didn't look like he had been roughed up at all other than the… brains thing. He had no idea how that happened. It looked like a ripe melon hitting the pavement. Just… everywhere.

Great, now he wasn't going to be able to eat melons anymore.

Okay. Just… get this over with. Call, get it cleaned up.

Just how drunk _was_ this guy?


End file.
